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Old 07-29-14, 12:09 AM   #453
NiHaoMike
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim_UK View Post
Ok, I've done a couple of hours of googling & reading about water source heat pumps. An Open Loop Water Sourced Heat Pump is of great interest now.

Alas these seem to be aimed at moderate sized houses or larger. The smallest I did find was a Dimplex SIH 4 ME (4KW) but it is listing at £3.5K/$6K. Several times more than a 5KW Diesel Water Heater designed for a Marine environment. The power use of the heat pump will need looking into carefully.

Also I have a feeling from my initial reading it would take 1KW.hr as an input (EG in a 4KW Heat Pump that needs 1KW electrickery), whereas a 5KW Diesel Water Heater would need 35-50 W.hr as an input (for the circulation pump & control unit aspects... IE nearly nothing). Power is a big concern as previously mentioned.

Still, DIY to the rescue? Do you have any more specific advice/pointers in this regard?

Cheers!
Rather than run the APU at a fast idle just to get it making some heat, actually use it as a generator and make use of the power to run a heat pump, while still making use of the heat from the engine. In your situation, it wouldn't be too difficult to net more heat into the space than what was in the fuel to begin with.
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